Google Business Profile Updates
If you post frequent Google Business Profile updates, there’s a new feature you need to be aware of. This feature may well roll out to all profile types, but is currently only available to food and drinks businesses.
You can only use it on business profiles with a single location (although that could change). Google has made it available to businesses in the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Google likes you using your business profile
The feature potential for bars and restaurants in the UK is significant, and I’d recommend becoming an early adopter. Furthermore, Google loves little more than to see businesses engaging via their Business Profile. It indicates you’re active, engaging with your audience and that the business is more likely to be trustworthy.
Your profile and SEO benefits
I’ve covered various elements of Google Business Profiles in the past, yet they remain a vastly under-utilised aspect of any SEO strategy. The visibility they give to a local business is one thing, but the part they play in communicating your live presence to Google is another.
It is no coincidence that businesses with high numbers of reviews, and those that reply to their reviewers using words associated with their business and sector, usually rank more favourably than their competitors.
I wrote a blog about Google reviews and SEO you might find of interest.
What does the new feature do?
The new feature allows you to post “What’s Happening” updates to your Google Business Profile. These show in the profile listing and have a threefold impact to attract clicks and engagement, with the ultimate potential of delivering traffic to your website.
Firstly, once you’ve posted a “What’s Happening” update to your profile, it’ll appear in a section as shown highlighted in the blue box below:
Secondly, when a user clicks on the update, they’ll be shown an enhanced view of the post:
Finally, clicking on this takes you to the full detail of the update:
From here, the opportunity to engage, drive traffic to your website and, subsequently, capture a sale, is evident. It’s an interesting new feature, but one I am intrigued by on the basis it doesn’t appear to offer a huge amount more than you can already achieve on your Google Business Profile.
Is “What’s Happening” an improvement?
You can already post events and promotions on your profile. Google’s official tweet on the new feature claims to put the update “front and centre” on your profile. It may well be that they’re given a higher position on your profile and attract more immediate attention.
Google’s decision to limit the feature to the food and drinks sector for now also puzzles me somewhat. If it gives pubs, clubs and restaurants the opportunity for more prominent promotions, why not release it to all businesses?
Why not allow Business Profile customisation?
I can see the feature being of high-value to retailers in almost all sectors. That said, I’d like to see Google allow businesses the ability to rearrange the content of their Business Profile. For example, why not let them place blocks of content, such as events, promotions, offers, etc., in an order that they would prefer them to be seen in?
As it stands today, your updates and events will always appear at the foot of your profile. I appreciate that Google want to prioritise the display of primary contact information such as your address, telephone number, website URL etc., but Google then displays the “People Also Search For” block (usually, and very annoyingly, highlighting competitors of the business) and your social media platform links. Wouldn’t a business prefer their more time-sensitive updates to be above these?
Summary
We’ll have to wait and see what happens in respect of the features expanded deployment, and how useful it proves. However, on the face of it, it appears to be a worthwhile addition and one that I’d encourage those in the food and drinks sector to make good use of.
Feedback
Did you find this blog of interest? If you work in the food and drinks sector, let me know if you’ll be using the new feature. I’d also be interested to hear of how effective you’ve found the Google Business Profile in your sector. I do monitor comments and will always respond as soon as possible.
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